Friday OT #2 - Shoulda Been A Contender

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Jon Heder in Napoleon Dynamite
 
Lion
Room
Whiplash
Mystic River
Milk

All were nominated for best picture, didn't win, but should have IMO. And Blue Jasmine not being nominated for best picture was a crime.
 
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John Hurt should have at least been nominated for Best Supporting actor for Contact.

Paul Dano should have at least been nominated for Best Supporting actor for There Will Be Blood.
 
Lots of Shawshank love here, and the ironic part about this is that for all of King's novels that have been made into movies, two of the most successful came from a book of 4 novellas called "Different Seasons". Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption and The Body are the two stories, the latter better known on screen as Stand By Me.

As a big King fan, I was constantly disappointed in the translation to film, even The Shining - although over the years I have gradually learned to appreciate Kubrick's slant. But there's something about Shawshank that touches nearly everyone that watches it, and that universal appeal, to me, earns it the nomination of best film to never win the Oscar.
 
Here's a couple from my mind.

Shawshank Redemption (one of the best movies ever made)
Goodfellas
Saving Private Ryan (Shakespeare in Love won? F'in' Harvey Weinstein!)
Zero Dark Thirty
Lost in Translation (This isn't a really great movie but it was better than its competition)

I'm going to state the unpopular opinion that Tarantino movies shouldn't be up for too many awards. With the over-the-top language and gratuitous violence, I find that (when I'm done watching a Tarantino movie) I tend to be entertained and slightly numb. I'm not really moved in any way and they don't really make me think much. Trust me, I know plenty about not thinking much.

Also, I'd guess this would make for a good upcoming OT (least deserved oscars) but every few years, the Oscar academy decides to give a best picture award to some British movie that doesn't deserve it. Chariots of Fire (I think this won because the song made for a good trailer), The English Patient (Elaine Benes was right), Shakespeare in Love (It was somewhat entertaining but best picture? Yeah right).


Lost in Translation has to be easily one of the worst films I have ever seen and I am a huge Bill fan. It just dragged on, was totally about nothing. The rest of them you named are spot on. Shawshank is one of my favorites but so is Gump. So I understand how Gump won. Plus, Gump was a huge movie at the time and Shawshank kind of flopped in the Theatre.
 
Lost in Translation has to be easily one of the worst films I have ever seen and I am a huge Bill fan. It just dragged on, was totally about nothing. The rest of them you named are spot on. Shawshank is one of my favorites but so is Gump. So I understand how Gump won. Plus, Gump was a huge movie at the time and Shawshank kind of flopped in the Theatre.
Lost in Translation is a slow movie and I know it's not for everybody. That being said, the relationship in that movie just seemed so realistic and genuine (and the fact that I could've totally seen my wife sending carpet samples to Japan) that I was totally charmed by it.

Also, I don't have a huge issue with Gump winning. It was a pretty big undertaking putting that series of random events into a tangible story that made sense in a movie. This is similar to how I don't have a problem with Titanic winning the Oscar. Sure, the movie ended up being a cheesy romance with a cool boat-sinking scene at the end. However, you do need to give James Cameron credit. He shot really high and tried to make the best movie ever made, even if it came up well short of that.
 
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Off the top of my head

Grand Budapest Hotel - Best Picture

I have more that I thought should have been at least nominated but didn't get recognition

Sam Rockwell - Best Actor - Moon
American History X - Pest Picture
Benicio Del Toro - Best Actor - Che
Guillermo Del Toro - Best Director - Pan's Labyrinth
Fight Club (Brad Pitt and Best Picture)
Jake Gyllenhaal - Best Actor - Nightcrawler
Dark Knight - Best Picture

My recency bias really makes this type of stuff hard for me haha
 
Lots of Shawshank love here, and the ironic part about this is that for all of King's novels that have been made into movies, two of the most successful came from a book of 4 novellas called "Different Seasons". Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption and The Body are the two stories, the latter better known on screen as Stand By Me.

As a big King fan, I was constantly disappointed in the translation to film, even The Shining - although over the years I have gradually learned to appreciate Kubrick's slant. But there's something about Shawshank that touches nearly everyone that watches it, and that universal appeal, to me, earns it the nomination of best film to never win the Oscar.
The problem with King novels is usually a lot of it goes on in the character's mind so it is difficult to translate it to film. Plus it is difficult to shrink them down to 90-120 minutes I think his short stories translate better to film.
 
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I'm going to let my geek flag fly here a bit...

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I thought Sean Astin should have been at least nominated for Return of the King.

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